Cookie Notification

We use cookies to deliver the best possible web experience. By continuing and using the site, including by remaining on the landing page, you consent to the use of cookies. If you wish to disable them, please take a look at our Cookies Policy. Please note that parts of the site may not function correctly if you disable all cookies. WE LOVE COOKIES!!

Good Things Come in Small Packs: Tiny-But-Mighty Coca-Cola Bottle Drives Growth in India

Good Things Come in Small Packs: Tiny-But-Mighty Coca-Cola Bottle Drives Growth in India

23/08/2016

Share:

Good things come in small packages. That's certainly the case in India, where an innovative plastic Coca-Cola bottle is driving growth.

Known officially as the Affordable Small Sparkling Package – or “ASSP”– the new 250-milliliter bottle addresses age-old problems in a country that covers more than a million square miles and includes more than a billion inhabitants: keeping products both fresh and affordable.

“In a country the size of India, expanding the reach of products into rural areas, and doing so affordably, has been a key challenge facing the consumer goods industry for years,” said T. Krishnakumar, CEO, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. “We all want to increase the availability of our products, but to do so requires transporting them over many miles – and sometimes many months – to reach the most rural areas.”

To tackle this challenge, Krishnakumar’s team, along with others from the Coca-Cola system and German packaging company KHS, worked for nearly two years to create a bottle that maintains the aesthetically pleasing look expected from Coca-Cola while ensuring carbonation is not lost during transit.

To preserve the sought-after “biting taste” sparkling beverages provide, the bottle's opening was redesigned to reduce the amount of gas loss from the cap. Additionally, a new protective coating was added on the bottle to lengthen beverage shelf life by five months.

Previously, a small, affordable serving size was widely desired – but not always available – in rural India.

After just 10 weeks in market, early results for the new bottle showed promise, with more than 700,000 cases sold. Currently available in eight of India’s states – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Rajasthan – Hindustan Coca-Cola plans to expand availability of the smaller bottle throughout India in 2017.

India continues to be a key market for Coca-Cola innovation, with the ASSP joining other recent local innovations such as Splash Bar, a new way shop owners are selling small, affordable servings of Coca-Cola; solar coolers, which make it possible to keep beverages cool in “off-the-grid” locations; and Vio Milk, which is the first value-added dairy product from Coca-Cola India.

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world’s largest beverage company, offering over 500 brands to people in more than 200 countries. Of our 21 billion-dollar brands, 19 are available in lower- or no-sugar options to help people moderate their consumption of added sugar. In addition to our namesake Coca-Cola drinks, some of our leading brands around the world include: AdeS soy-based beverages, Ayataka green tea, Dasani waters, Del Valle juices and nectars, Fanta, Georgia coffee, Gold Peak teas and coffees, Honest Tea, Minute Maid juices, Powerade sports drinks, Simply juices, smartwater, Sprite, vitaminwater, and Zico coconut water. At Coca-Cola, we’re serious about making positive contributions to the world. That starts with reducing sugar in our drinks and continuing to introduce new ones with added benefits. It also means continuously working to reduce our environmental impact, creating rewarding careers for our associates and bringing economic opportunity wherever we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people around the world.